About a year(?) ago, I sent them a 4" 29-2 to have the forcing cone recut and the barrel set back because it had always spit.
They did that work, and in the process, put a very visible cut in the side of the barrel. They sent it back to me with the cut, and without comment. If somebody had called or even included a letter of appology, most of the following could have been avoided.
I immediately noted the problem and contacted them. They tried to deny they'd done it, but I had multiple witnesses, including a gunsmith, my boss, and my lawyer, all of whom had seen the gun immediately before it was sent to S&W. They all agreed that there was no cut.
S&W wanted to grind on the barrel to "fix" the problem. I insisted on a new barrel. After a few days of going around in circles, they agreed to replace the barrel.
The next week, I got a terse email stating that they had no barrels and were going to grind on the barrel and refinish the entire gun, contrary to my very explicit instructions to the contrary. Note I didn't say they asked if that was ok, they just announced that's what they were going to do. I couldn't get hold of the person with whom I was dealing, so I had to fax them a blistering letter telling them I'd sue if they refinished the gun without my permission, since that would pretty much destroy any value it had.
I finally got hold of the person I'd been dealing with and reminded them that they'd agreed to replace the barrel, and that I'd told them in no uncertain terms NOT to grind on the original barrel as a "repair". I told them that until they'd promised to replace the barrel, that I'd been looking for a replacement, and that they needed to take up that search themselves. They said they didn't buy third party parts (which has since been contradicted by others). After even more wrangling, they agreed to install a barrel after I found one. NOBODY had new barrels, so I had to solicit barrels on various message boards. I found two, and bought both, just in case. Of course both were used, and needed refinishing, as now probably would the gun, to match.
In the meantime, I kept getting calls from S&W about how their polisher was leaving and I needed to let them grind on the barrel and refinish the gun RIGHT NOW. This got old right from the start, especially AFTER they'd authorized me to find a replacement barrel. I sent S&W the first barrel, which they rejected as having been set back too many times. I then sent them the second, which they used. At this point, they refused to refinish either the barrel or the gun. I instructed them to send the gun back.
At that point, I refused to deal with them directly anymore and all correspondence went through my attorney. They were given the option of returning the gun to something approximating its original state or to be sued in Ohio. At this point my attorney was contacted by Neil Gibree, their head of customer service. Things immediately turned around. The gun was returned to them and refinished competently in almost exactly two weeks. The gun now looks very nice, although it's practically worthless, having been refinished. I never planned to sell it, but I pretty much couldn't now if I wanted to, without taking a horrendous bath. I've got the wooden presentation box and tools, but the gun is worth all of $400 now. I'd sold the gun to a friend ten years ago and had been trying to get it back for years. This whole process took right on six months. Until I got it back the final time, S&W had the gun longer than I did. This experience pretty much destroyed my enjoyment at getting back.
I'm told, and generally believe, that this is an unusual case. Unfortunately, these things do happen with S&W, and there isn't much rhyme or reason to how or when. Most people seem to get excellent service. Then there's a select few of us who get the AT&T treatment using the Soviet customer service model.
I have no explanation, and can only shrug.
